Hey young man, wash yer face and (1912 1/2) eagle before dinner! ;)
stawick
Posts: 469 ✭✭✭✭
So I recently sent my 1912 Indian 1/2 Eagle in for restoration, as it had pretty bad eye appeal IMO (for an MS63). It currently shows in QA status and I think the image for its certification has been updated. I think I got rid of some circa WWI coin grime! 
I know some suggestions I've gotten were to sell it and get what I'd like. For whatever reason, I couldnt let go of this one?? The PCGS price guide has increased by over $500 since I got it, so I decided to invest under $150 too get this done. I was never expecting any bump in grade, just the eye appeal factor. I think I'm gonna like it. IMO I think it looks less like a grimy penny and more like a gold coin like it should.
I found an old post which will have a before pic, and then the after pic when I linked from my current registry / inventory.
Before -
After -
Comments
The cert # will change after conservation, so don’t get too far ahead of yourself until you see the grade post, and see the conserved coin in hand to make sure it improved to your liking
Yes, this compares TV to TV, and it may be different in hand. Still, I kinda noticed the difference in the thumbnail in my inventory right away, maybe I got a preview. I had to go grab an old pic to compare it to.
I kinda like the before! 😂
Dave
Me, too.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I hope you will be happy with it. Let us know when you get it in hand. Cheers, RickO
I as well (:
Wow, I guess I just wasnt expecting the liking-before responses. Its all good, just a little surprised.
Probably because I mostly have modern proof gold that I was a bit beyond "meh" about it, and so geeked / stoked about the (potential) update. I didnt see the before as toning as some may see it perhaps, but more grit.
No worries, it’s a great coin. Don’t worry about other peoples tastes … collect what you love. It’s an awesome $5 gold piece.
Dave
This! Personally, I liked the "before" coin but that's just me and it's not my collection! It's still an excellent specimen of a Half Eagle...
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No prob. I appreciate all the opinions. I kinda had a suspicion some people might say something about the "history" that collected on the coin as it may have been in use during its life, and I got it all wiped away.
But I havent seen too many of these with this much "history" on it, so opted for the change. To be more in line with other examples I've seen (online).
Those last two sentences are what make it kind of a shame (in my opinion) that the coin was boinked. You are right, there aren't too many of these with the look this coin had before, but there are boatloads with the look this coin has after. It's just one less piece for folks who like something a little different.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
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in the future, may i encourage you to offer an item like that up for sale here, as there are plenty of other examples like the AFTER pics available to satiate your gold desire and there are many DOG collectors here in which it would find a home for a long time to come.
these GOTTA be tough to come by with surfaces like that.
either way. THANKS for sharing.
Another scarce coin becomes a common coin. Oh well.
I'm having an "ah, I see now" moment
. I havent regarded the history-accumulation aspect of it too greatly, obviously. I will take a sale into consideration, and the BST would be another means of participating here. This was a different lesson of sorts, of how collectors perceive coins - from a historical perspective.
Background - I bought this a few years ago from APMEX (a place I have some trust in). I was deliberating between this 1912 and either an '09 or '09-D, I forget. I paid more for this, and I think the overall mintage or the population at this grade favored this coin. And APMEX usually indicates the image "is similar to the actual", or "is the actual" coin, and I forget which in this case. If it was actual, it was brighter than in-hand, as the case can be. Bottom line, I put some homework into it.
Given the grade (MS63 - highest grade I could afford), as previously stated, I saw far too many - even AU - coins with better eye-appeal IMO. So I was pretty much set on restoration. If it were raw (wouldnt have bought it un-slabbed, probably) or AU (not MS) I probably could've been more easily compelled to BST it.
Bottom line, I'll try to be more discriminating; buy for the eye appeal I like, and leave history to those who appreciate it more than I. I do appreciate many of the older designs and their reuse in modern coins (St Gaudens, Buffalo, Walking Liberty, Mercury, etc). This incuse design is 1 of my favs, and 1 I wanted to own from way back. (Many are like it, but this one is mine.
)
perhaps, more than 1 is the way to go.
The Readers Digest condensed version is simply this...
If your taste gravitates to the look of the coin after conservation, then just buy something that fits your style instead of enhancing a coin that really is outside the scope of your preference. Some coins simply look great as they are.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
well said.
ALSO, it will save a good chunk of change on fees.
Just a note about the restoration process. (coin en route, have yet to see it in hand)
It did get a new cert #, as mentioned above.
It stayed at the same grade (expected) = MS63.
And 1 thing I misunderstood, they do not add the 3% premium if it did not bump in grade. I thought they always added that. So it "only" cost $86.
Also, (all apologies to the "DOG" lovers here) I thought the before / after were good examples of what restoration could do. To me, it matches what the "swipe" example PCGS uses on their Restoration page on the silver coin - it was the result I was hoping for, and got close to. Almost like they could also use these before / after as an example with gold. YMMV, of course.
Interesting, from what I remember and it has been years since I sent in a restoration, they charge the guarantee if they restore it and an evaluation fee ($10) if the don't. So good for you or did something change. The pcgs restoration page reads as if they charge the guarantee for the restoration charge.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2YNufnS_kf4 - Mama I'm coming home ...................................................................................................................................................................... RLJ 1958 - 2023
I think my fee was the base $10 service, $30-something service level fee, and return shipping. I saw $86 show up on my CC acct.
My other restoration order DID bump the grades and got the 3% premium fee last time.
"DOG" lovers? Really?
Seems a reasonable effort has been made to be polite to you and your decision in connection with conservation. Seems respect should be a two way street... Or should I just write what I have been writing here for 20 years?
So basically this coin was rescued from those- including you- that feel enhancement is what is required.
Again, please buy those coins that have already been processed. If you make remarks that such a coin is a Dog than save them from those that view them as a thoroughbred
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I thought I was being respectful and reasonable - and in jest (probably shoulda used an emogi like -
). I was repeating what another respected member described this as above.
LanceNewman post (OK, I just jokingly changed to "lovers").
Sorry your skin is so thin, man.
Perhaps you have not been around long enough to understand or appreciate the amount of original gold that has literally been slaughtered through this type of crap. Not thinned skinned... just telling it like it is.
Good luck in your numismatic endeavors
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Thank you for the good wishes.
I just saw what you added to your post, and just have to say I do not in anyway see that coin you posted as a "dog", in any sense joking or otherwise.
And in the spirit of recognition (I shoulda put this in my previous reply), I feel everyone on both sides has been respectful here. I certainly have never meant any disrespect to anyone. Sorry I failed to use an emogi when I reused a term. I obviously did something many did not like or agree with (that is not disrespect, however). I got the message. Rest assured, I'm NOT on any mission to clean up ALL old gold. My bank account says "nah!".
Any such future purchase will be done with more scrutiny.
Completely agree, as I was also one of the "prefer the before" responses. Feel free to collect what you enjoy because you are the best one to know your own preferences. I believe we are much happier when we are not trying to be what others think we should be or think the way others may compel us to think.
I will never understand why someone would pay good money to have someone dip the original surfaces from a gold coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.